They like to run.
South Dakota (2-5, 1-3 MVFC) at Youngstown State (4-3, 2-2 MVFC)
About the Coyotes: South Dakota rallied to beat Southern Illinois on homecoming last week to keep its FCS playoff hopes alive ... QB Aiden Bouman entered late in the first half trailing 21-7 and led two consecutive scoring drives to close the gap to 21-17 ... RBs Travis Theis and Shomari Lawrence both surpassed 100 yards rushing against Southern Illinois ... LBs Stephen Hillis (1st) and Brock Mogensen (3rd) are two of the top-three tacklers in the Valley ... CB Myles Harden has forced six turnovers this season, but did not compete in last week's game due to injury and is questionable for Saturday
About the Penguins: Youngstown State features the nation's leading rusher in Jaleel McLaughlin, who averages nearly eight yards per carry ... McLaughlin averages 152 yards per game and has reached 200 in each of the last two games ... fifth-year junior Mitch Davidson took over QB duties at the start of conference play and has averaged 241 yards passing in the last three weeks ... Bryce Oliver, who began his career at Kentucky, has benefited most from the change ... he has caught a TD in each of the last three weeks and ranks fourth in the Valley in receiving (70 ypg) ... Dylan Wudke and James Jackson have combined for seven sacks and 14.5 TFL for a defense that ranks 49th nationally in yards per game
Quick Hits
-South Dakota is seeking its first win at Youngstown State in six tries and its first road win this season
-The teams last met in March of 2021 and in the fall of 2019 before that
-The Coyotes are ranked 30th in the Massey Ratings with the toughest strength of schedule in FCS
-USD scored 20 points (2 TDs, 2 FGs) on seven Aiden Bouman drives in last week's win
-Travis Theis and Shomari Lawrence both surpassed 100 yards rushing last week against SIU's ninth-ranked run defense
-CB Cameron Tisdale forced two turnovers last week and is the reigning MVFC Defensive Player of the Week
-LB Stephen Hillis leads the Valley and ranks ninth nationally in tackles per game (10.0)
-South Dakota needs to win its final four games to qualify for postseason play
The Notes
South Dakota kept its hopes for back-to-back FCS playoff appearances alive last week with a 27-24, come-from-behind win against then-No. 14/17 Southern Illinois on homecoming weekend in Vermillion. It stopped the Salukis' five-game winning streak which had started with a win at the Big Ten's Northwestern. It also avenged an FCS playoff loss to Southern Illinois inside the DakotaDome last November.
The big news out of Saturday was the insertion of quarterback Aidan Bouman late in the first half with South Dakota trailing big in yardage and on the scoreboard. Outside of one snap against SDSU in which he simply took a knee, it was Bouman's collegiate debut. He led USD to a field goal on his first drive and threw a 15-yard touchdown to Wesley Eliodor to cap his second, which cut Southern Illinois' 21-7 lead to 21-17 early in the second half. Bouman finished 11-of-17 for 120 yards and the Coyotes rallied for the win.
Head coach Bob Nielson did not commit to naming a starter for Saturday's game at Youngstown State during his Tuesday press conference. Third-year sophomore Carson Camp has started all 23 games since arriving on campus and helped lead the Coyotes to the playoffs last year. He passed for a career-high 355 yards and accounted for four touchdowns earlier this season against Cal Poly. But in the other six games this season, he is 60-of-118 for 549 yards and one touchdown against five interceptions and the offense has totaled 40 points. Still, Camp is the program's eighth-leading passer with 4,123 career passing yards.
No matter who takes the first snaps Saturday, South Dakota remains a run-first offense with a pair of capable backs in Travis Theis and Shomari Lawrence. Both are coming off their best performances of the season and they came against one of the best run defenses in the country. Lawrence carried 11 times for a career-high 122 yards. Theis ran 21 times for a season-high 108 yards. Both found the end zone. They will try to break down a Youngstown State defense that has given up 169 yards rushing per game with nine touchdowns in four Valley contests.
The run-game success has coincided with consistency among USD's offensive line. Left tackle Alex Jensen missed the first game of the year and has been building back to full strength. Center Joey Lombard went down in game one and didn't return until game five. Last week marked the third time USD has featured all five of its starting cast this season. Coyote quarterbacks have been sacked four times in the last two games compared to 22 times in the first five.
Before looking at South Dakota's offensive rankings this season, consider that in addition to Kansas State in the opener, South Dakota has faced the No. 3 (SDSU), No. 10 (NDSU), No. 11 (Montana), and No. 13 (Illinois State) FCS defenses in five of its seven games.
Another factor is that the Coyotes are running 57 offensive plays per game. By comparison, USD averaged 67 plays in 2020 and 2021 and 81 plays per game in 2017 and 2018. In fact, USD consistently huddled two weeks ago for the first time in Bob Nielson's tenure.
Speaking of tough competition, South Dakota ranks 30 out of 130 FCS teams in this week's Massey Ratings. The Coyotes are one of two teams with a losing record in the top 34 and that's because South Dakota is facing the toughest FCS schedule (ever?).
Compare South Dakota at No. 30 to one of its early 2023 opponents St. Thomas. The Tommies are 6-1 and the AFCA Coaches poll has them No. 28 this week. The computer (Massey) ranks St. Thomas No. 92. Why? The Tommies, which compete in the non-scholarship Pioneer League, are facing the 129th-ranked schedule (out of 130). They have two Division II wins and their best win, Davidson, is ranked No. 95. Southern Illinois is No. 12. South Dakota has faced one foe out of seven outside the top 22.
South Dakota's last trip to Youngstown was not pretty. Jaleel McLaughlin ran for 166 yards, the Penguins outrushed the Coyotes 303-12 and Youngstown State won 28-10 in what turned out to be the Coyotes' fourth and final game played during the COVID-shortened spring season of 2021. Carson Camp passed for 214 yards to lead South Dakota and Brock Mogensen had nine tackles for a Coyote defense that forced two turnovers.
Youngstown State's last trip to Vermillion was not pretty. Kai Henry ran 13 times for 130 yards, the Coyotes outrushed the Penguins 327-66 and South Dakota won 56-21 in one of the final games of the 2019 regular season. Jaleel McLaughlin was carving up Division II defenses that year for Notre Dame College. Coyote quarterback Austin Simmons passed for 180 yards and four touchdowns.
Youngstown State's run game is second only to North Dakota State in the Valley. No FCS team has been able to stop McLaughlin nor keep him out of the end zone. South Dakota got a career-high 10 tackles last week from defensive tackle Blake Holden and it will take similar efforts along the Coyotes' front seven to slow the Penguins.
The Coyotes' strength defensively has come against the pass. Just one team – Cal Poly – has reached 200 yards passing against USD. Southern Illinois threw it 44 times last week, but totaled 190 yards. Kansas State passed for 95 against the Coyotes.
Linebacker Stephen Hillis ranks ninth nationally in tackles per game (70 in seven games). What's impressive there is that Hillis wasn't a starter at the beginning of the season. He entered when Jakari Starling was injured in the season opener at Kansas State. Hillis also didn't play the majority of the game against Cal Poly when a first-half injury forced him to exit. Hillis leads the Coyotes with 3.0 sacks and is second with 6.5 tackles-for-loss.
Brock Mogensen is an all-conference linebacker and a preseason all-American playing alongside Hillis. He had a career-high 15 tackles in the Valley opener against NDSU and added a game-high 10 stops against Illinois State. He recovered a fumble and returned it 37 yards to set up a 6-yard touchdown drive last week against Southern Illinois. Mogensen currently ranks third in the Valley in tackles per game.
The Coyotes' brightest star defensively has been sophomore cornerback Myles Harden, who led the nation with six forced turnovers entering last week, but didn't compete against Southern Illinois due to injury. Harden led the nation in passes defended per game during the COVID-shortened season. He ranks ninth nationally in passes defended currently. Coach Nielson said Harden was questionnable to return for Saturday's game in Ohio.
Nielson has boasted about the strength and depth of his secondary all season and last week served as the latest example. With Harden out, it was fellow cornerback Cameron Tisdale who earned the start and ended up being named MVFC Defensive Player of the Week. Tisdale forced two turnovers – a fumble and an interception – that South Dakota's offense turned into touchdowns in the 27-24 victory.
For the first time in Bob Nielson's 30 years of coaching, a special teams player has been voted a team captain. That player is all-American long snapper Dalton Godfrey, who doubles as an academic all-American. Godfrey is working with two new specialists this year and both are seniors. Eddie Ogamba, who transferred from Iowa State prior to last season, has won the kicking duties. John Bickle, who had success at Division III Wheaton College last year, is the punter.
Bickle boasts the second-best punting average in the league and the Coyotes rank seventh nationally in net punting, a category the program has held high rankings in for a long time behind Miles Bergner and Brady Schutt. The Coyotes led the nation in net punting during the COVID-shortened season.
Ogamba is coming off his best performance as a Coyote. He made a career-long 46-yard field goal and a game-winning 44-yarder against Southern Illinois. Ogamba has gotten 18 touchbacks on 25 kickoffs.
